By Ben Thapa

The possible root words for “grappling” all describe some level of seizing, clinching, holding close, and connote a sense of working hard to do so. Human history has shown us that is not easy to lay ahold of a human being that a) does not want you to and b) is really good at preventing you from laying ahold of them within the rules of the game you are playing. To win that game requires constant physical training, sharpening mental recognition of patterns, forging instincts correctly and permanently, and keeping alive the fire inside for winning. 

Our sibling site, FloWrestling, does a fantabulous job of covering wrestling in all the different varieties and forms. We see through their videos, articles, and constant coverage that wrestling is far more than the staid and all too quiet Olympics championships we see every four years. The awe-inspiring takedowns, the slick reversals, and the narratives the stars write themselves are things we appreciate in combat sports. 

But does the action stop with a pin of the shoulders to the mats or a tech fall? Not in Brazilian jiu jitsu. 

In FloGrappling’s world, what happens when the action hits the ground is as crucial and interesting as all the work and action that went before. We will bring you articles and match videos, we will explain techniques and strategies, we will show how one thing affects another in the great arms race for victory on the mats. 

The Brazilian jiu jitsu scoring systems and means of winning may be different from wrestling, but the general idea is the same: I want to win by seizing ahold of you in a way that you can’t get out of – and you want to do the same thing to me. Since not every match ends in a submission, we have points, we have referees, and we have long debates on what “winning” means in terms of competition. The specific rules may change in between competitions and generations, yet the submission and the seizing ahold of remains constant.   

Depending on who you ask, the origins of Brazilian jiu jitsu can be anywhere from “oh, the Gracies invented it” to “the judo guys from Japan taught the Gracies everything”. The truth is more complex than a short sentence can give, but the essence is that what we do in Brazilian jiu jitsu classes is a combination of grappling forms heavily reliant upon judo, carny wrestling, folkstyle wrestling, old-style boxing clinches and more. Each person, each gym, each city, each country and each generation have their own takes on something that people have been doing in different forms for thousands and thousands of years. There is history in everything we are shown, experience, and teach. There is much more future history to be lived, written, and forgotten. 

The hustle, the humid training rooms, the sacrifices, the crowd noise, the bellowing coaches, and the sheer technicality of Brazilian jiu jitsu all make an irresistible mélange. We love what we do and if you want more coverage that shows the depth of life on and behind the competition stage, here’s where you’ll find it.